The title Entropvisions is in homage to my mother, the poet and art critic, Harriet Zinnes. In 1990 New Directions published a collection of her poems titled Entropisms, a word she made-up combining entropy - the tendency toward disorder - and tropism - the growth towards or away from a stimulus. Similarly, my short reviews combine entropy and tropism by suggesting growth towards a vision of art from the chaos of the art world. Through the back door, my title also pays homage to my physicist father, Irving Zinnes, whose long discussions with my mom got her thinking about entropy and tropism in the first place.
When it first opened back in May, the Matthew Wong show at Cheim & Read received rave reviews from a number of my FB friends whom I greatly respect, and if you haven't yet stopped by, I recommend a visit. However, though I don't like being contrary, I cannot be so enthusiastically positive about the work on view. Though clearly an artist with tremendous imagination and a troubled life - he committed suicide at age 35 - I feel the mostly small paintings in this show are more sketches than final pieces (though as far as I can tell they are presented as final work). Had he given himself the luxury and focus to work out internal tensions between parts, the power of each image could have been overwhelming, but I felt I was being asked to imagine this tension. As often can happen, in the photos the work looks stronger than in reality, since photos condense formal structures. With about two more weeks before it closes on September 10, there's still time for you to make your own judgement.